CH 60

Chapter 60: The Money is Here

At the north gate of the outpost.

Two men dressed in avant-garde costumes stood at the front and the back of a two-headed bull respectively, and stopped in front of the north gate.

The person standing at the front held a 7m revolver, a specialty of Red River Town. Although the muzzle was facing downwards, his eyes constantly cruised back and forth on and around the wall, watching out for any signs of danger.

This person is very strong!

This was Chu Guang's first instinct.

As for the person standing at the back, it was Merchant Sun whom Chu Guang met before.

"Haha, my old friend, we meet again!"

Seeing Chu Guang appear at the gate, the tension on Sun Shiqi's face suddenly disappeared. He opened his arms with joy and enthusiasm, and greeted him.

Even from a long distance away, Chu Guang could smell the odor coming from him. Chu Guang couldn't stand it, so he didn't hug him. Instead, he stretched out his right hand.

Sun Shiqi smiled, not embarrassed, graciously changed his posture, and shook Chu Guang's right hand vigorously.

"Sorry, I've been on my way for almost five days, and I didn't have time to take a shower. I hoped you wouldn't mind it."

"It's okay," Chu Guang glanced at the man standing next to the two-headed bull and cast a questioning gaze at Sun Shiqi. "This is?"

"He is the gunman I hired from Red River Town and is responsible for my safety along the way. There are several gunmen's guilds in Red River Town that are trustworthy and reliable. The most important thing is that they know how to avoid the conflict with the marauders nearby… it's just a safety precaution, you can treat him as if he doesn't exist!"

‘Gunners' Guild?’

‘Probably the people who quit being marauders.’

Chu Guang nodded as his eyes stayed on the big two-headed bull for a while, his eyebrows gently raised with a trace of interest.

It seemed that the dried meat they made was very popular in Red River Town. Last time’s transaction should have made this guy a lot of money, as not only did he have money to buy a new batch of goods, but also to hire a bodyguard.

This was a good thing.

A win-win business could last long.

"How was your trip to Boulder City? Was the journey safe?" Chu Guang asked casually.

"I didn't go to Boulder City, so I don't know the situation there." Sun Shiqi shook his head. "After leaving you last time, I went to a farm not far from you. It was a coincidence that they were very interested in my remaining goods, so I exchanged some food with them and went straight back."

"The road conditions in the city are too complicated, and the ruins inside are like a maze. I would rather walk 10 kilometers in the wilderness than walk a mile in the city."

"You can also tell that this winter will probably be more difficult than previous years. Food prices in Red River Town are soaring. Those upper class people like mine owners and slave owners don't like those black nutritious creams. As soon as I arrived at the trading station, all my goods were bought by their servants."

"I thought that since it sold so well, I might as well make another trip before the road was blocked by the heavy snow, so I hired a bodyguard and set off, hehe."

"Selling so well? It seems that I sold it too cheaply last time." Chu Guang said half-jokingly.

Realizing that he had just exposed his trading secret, Sun Shiqi gave a dry cough and said with a smile.

"Sir, you really are funny. We, traveling merchants, are risking our lives to sell goods from places to places. It may be lucrative, but we are just trying to make a living."

"Okay, there’s no need to pretend to be pitiful in front of me. No matter what you earn, you deserve it. If you have money, remember to buy two more bulls and bring more things in the spring next year," Chu Guang interrupted Sun Shiqi’s nonsense and went straight to the point. “Did you bring the thing I asked for?"

Sun Shiqi said quickly. "Yes! Hey, hey, don't worry, I will definitely not forget your instructions!"

The mutated two-headed bull often weighed more than one ton and had a carrying capacity of between 700 kg and 900 kg. Its mobility in ruined terrain and field terrain was relatively good, though slightly inferior to the mutant yak.

In addition to the five hundred kilograms of coins, Sun Shiqi also used the earned money to purchase almost one hundred kilograms of materials.

Among them was a bag of waxy yellow coarse salt which weighed about 10 kilograms. There were also ten 7mm caliber revolver rifles, two large bags of bullets and so on.

Although his bull could still carry more, he had no extra money to purchase other things.

In the usual situation, these less wealthy merchants would take risks to detour in order to pick up waste, but at this point in time, it was obviously inappropriate to do so.

When inspecting the bullets in the sacks, Chu Guang noticed that the two big bags of bullets were actually made of copper.

It seemed that there was not much copper shortage in Red River Town.

However, compared to the bullets produced by Boulder City using the stamping technology, many of the bullets produced by Red River Town were produced by rolling the copper sheet, and there were visible depressions and protrusions on the bullet.

No wonder they would make this semi-automatic revolver rifle with a simple receiver structure.

With a slightly more sophisticated receiver, there was a chance it would jam after a few rounds of this ammunition.

Was this the gap between industrial survivor bases and resource-driven survivor bases?

Throwing a few bullets back into the bag, Chu Guang silently noted down the information in his heart.

"... How is it? Are you satisfied with these goods?"

Sun Shiqi had a flattering smile on his face.

If possible, he hoped that Chu Guang would buy all these things.

In this way, he could also bring more dried meat back.

"Weapons, coarse salt, and those coins, I want them all," Chu Guang glanced at the last bag, and found some yellow powder in it, and asked, "There’s something inside. What is it?"

Sun Shiqi said with a smile.

"Insect powder! It is made by grinding the mutated yellow-fronted tall-legged spiders after they die. It is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and is mainly used as fertilizer!"

Chu Guang nodded.

As fertilizer, this should be something Brown Farm needed. He hasn't started farming here yet, so he didn't need this stuff.

But this did provide him with an idea.

He heard players say that there were a lot of struvite stones by the lake, maybe he could try to make some fertilizer and sell it to Brown Farm.

At this moment, Sun Shiqi suddenly remembered something, walked to the side of the two-headed bull, opened the leather package hanging on it, and took out a glass bottle from it.

The mouth of the glass bottle was stuffed with a cork, and some small holes for ventilation were pierced on the cork. The bottle was stuffed with fist-sized ants with shaking limbs and antennas that were visible to the naked eye. It looked pretty scary.

After staring at the bottle with interest for a while, Chu Guang asked.

"Is this the ironback ant?"

Sun Shiqi said with a smile.

"Yes! Usually we use it to make feed or other things. It just so happened that someone was selling it at the trading station, so I bought a bottle."

After playing with the bottle for a while, Chu Guang looked at Sun Shiqi and asked.

"How much?"

Sun Shiqi waved his hand, "No, no, my friend, you have misunderstood. This is a gift from me. It’s free."

"Oh? Thank you."

Of course, Chu Guang would not refuse such a good thing, and decisively accepted the gift.

As for the courtesy of returning gifts?

It’s nonexistent.

Allowing this guy to do business with himself is already the greatest grace to him.

Seeing Chu Guang accepting the gift, Sun Shiqi's face was full of smiles.

"You're welcome, it's my honor to have you as a friend... You see, it's getting late, how about we talk about the details of the transaction?"

Chu Guang nodded and said only one word.

"Okay."

...

Unlike the merchant from Boulder City, most of these merchants from other regions did not recognize the currency of bargaining chips. They either had their own currency or they didn't have any at all.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, when conducting cross-regional trade, everyone would trade for goods with no fixed "price".

Although Chu Guang received a gift symbolizing friendship from Sun Shiqi, friendship cannot be eaten as a meal after all. When bargaining, Chu Guang did not make concessions because of the gift.

After all, who can have thicker skin than a salesperson?

The 500 kg of coins stayed at the previously agreed price, and every 100 kg was exchanged for 4 kg of air-dried meat, which was equivalent to 20 kg of air-dried meat.

Chu Guang was a man of his word, and he had no plan to go back on what had been agreed upon, and there was no need for it.

The two parties happily reached a consensus.

However, the pleasant part ended here.

A few minutes ago, Sun Shiqi was so naive as to think that the man in front of him was very easy to deal with, until the man in front of him came out with a crazy price of "3 kg of dried meat for 1 kg of salt".

"I’m sorry, I must have misheard..."

The reaction of this guy was completely expected. Chu Guang repeated what he said without changing his expression.

"You heard me right. A kilogram of coarse salt for 3 kg of dried meat."

"This is impossible!"

Sun Shiqi exclaimed almost reflexively, ignoring the previous respect, and retorted angrily.

"You must be joking! The dried meat you use here is roasted and air-dried. It hasn't been marinated at all. It can't be worth the price!"

"Oh?"

Seeing that Chu Guang was still unmoved, Sun Shiqi took a deep breath and continued in a calm tone.

"Well, you are not a merchant after all, so maybe you don't understand the market... Let's do some calculations. If I transport 10 kg of coarse salt to Boulder City, I will get at least 1 chip for every 100 grams!"

Chu Guang did not speak.

He had never been to Boulder City at all. He only knew the bitter, coarse salt that only the poor would consume would cost 2 chips for every 100g in Bett Street. So it was expected that the price would be doubled on Bett Street.

But does it matter?

The price of grains already tripled on Bett Street!

It was meaningless to discuss prices on the wasteland.

Moisturizing his dry throat, Sun Shiqi continued.

"100 chips! If I replace these chips with electrical appliances, industrial products, and daily necessities and take them to Brown Farm, at least 300 kilograms of green wheat can be exchanged. If I replace these grains with dried meat, it is at least 60~75 kilograms."

"So the lowest price I can accept is 60 kg, that is, 1 kg of salt for 6 kg of dried meat! For the sake of our friendship... 59 kg, this is the lowest price I can accept!"

"It's also my biggest concession!"

Sun Shiqi felt that he had explained the truth sufficiently loud and clear.

Even if these hamsters staying in the shelter had never traded in the wasteland, they should be able to understand their "difficulties."

However, after listening to his nonsense, Chu Guang just smiled.

There was one thing that Shiqi said was right.

He was really not a merchant.

If someone really thought of him this way, then they would underestimate him.

But if they believed that he didn’t know anything about sales.

Haha….

"What you said is true."

The expression on Sun Shiqi's face became overjoyed.

However, without waiting for a second, Chu Guang's next sentence solidified a happy expression on his face.

"... Then my friend, why don't you do that?"

Looking at this friend from afar with a smile, Chu Guang said softly.

"I mean, if you want to exchange 300 kilograms of green wheat for 59 kilograms of dried meat, I’m happy to do it."